Mmmm… sulphur!

Julie and Raf met me in Rotorua, where we stayed right in the heart of everything at a little hostel called Crash Palace. This was almost directly across from the Polynesian Spa, where we pool-hopped from waters ranging between 28 C and 34 C (it was very relaxing, even though we found an hour there to be enough time for us to enjoy it).

Julie and Raf only arrived in New Zealand a few months ago, so there were still many things on their list of sights to see. One of these was White Island, an active volcano in the Bay of Plenty region.

Since the Bay of Plenty is not far from Rotorua, we decided to head to White Island from there. We left Rotorua early in the morning, just hoping that the water wouldn’t be too rough for us to land on the shores of the island. Since there isn’t a full docking area (the boat pulls up close to the shore and passengers are transported to the small dock by way of dingy), the water and weather have to cooperate in order for a visit to the volcano to be possible. We knew ahead of time that the water would be rough. I had been on boats a lot over the course of my trip, and this was by far the roughest water I had seen. I think all three of us (and the rest of the passengers, probably) were struggling to keep our breakfasts from resurfacing. Unfortunately, one of us didn’t have much success…

We were relieved to finally reach solid ground again, even if solid ground in this case meant an active volcano. Just before we arrived, we each received a hard hat and gas mask – both mandatory for us to be allowed to step foot on the island. There is always volcanic activity of some sort on White Island, so you never really know whether rocks might go flying into the air suddenly or if there might be a flash flood. At first we didn’t think we would need the gas masks, but then the sulphur dioxide-scented steam really got to us and we were glad that we had them handy.

Although we didn’t have any life-or-death moments while visiting White Island, it turns out that our guide had worked for the tour company at the time of the last major eruption on White Island (which wasn’t all that long ago) and they had been doing tours of the island up until 4 weeks before the eruption. If the water hadn’t been so rough, they easily could have been on the island when the volcano erupted. There were signs that an eruption was on the way but it’s difficult to predict exactly when it’s going to happen. Within days after the eruption, they were back on the island again (once the waters were calm enough, that is).

There is a camera set up to monitor White Island, so you can follow the volcanic activity from a distance if you are interested: Volcano Camera, White Island crater. Apparently, traffic to the site increased dramatically after someone planted a small Dino figurine in front of the camera. Neat way to get people interested in science!

On our way back to Rotorua, we stopped in at Hell’s Gate for a quick tour of (much tamer!) hyrothermal activity. We were glad we didn’t have to brave a boat ride to see the bursts of steam, bubbling mud, and acidic pools of water this time.